Character Bios

TEN (6-8)

Above all else, Ten is a boy very much scared of change (just like any other child). When a royal procession arrived at his village, he was required to meet with them, just like the rest of the children he played with. Without even entirely realizing what was happening, Ten was proclaimed the Chosen One and whisked away from his home life and family. His parents were reluctant to let him go, but they knew the important role he would end up playing, and duty won out over fear. He shared a tearful goodbye with his parents, hurriedly packed (he made sure to bring a small wooden horse his father had carved for him), and then he was gone.

Everything at the temple is new to Ten: the ceremonial clothing (which hasn’t been tailored yet and is too large for him), the detailed sculptures and tapestries, Jampa… And at his age, away from the safety of his parents, new is scary. He misses chasing the chickens around the village green with the other kids, or sitting on his father’s knee while he told him stories from the war, or singing songs with his mother while peeling vegetables for dinner. Instead, he spends a lot of time alone, in a grandiose, quiet temple. Jampa, aloof and strict, scares him - but he’s also the only person he has to turn to. He sees a lot of his father in Jampa, and wishes he could be closer to him. Because of this, even though he does get terrified and overwhelmed, Ten does try to be obedient to Jampa - he respects him, and wants to be liked by him.

Ten treats his oversized robe like a security blanket, constantly holding them and wringing them in his hands. He’s half scared child and half curious child (everything being new is terrifying, but also kind of cool and exciting to him), and it reads in his posture. When he forgets he’s scared, he relaxes and is energetic and happy - but as soon as something happens to remind him, he closes off and grips his robes.

For reference, look up characters such as the kid from E.T. as well as Nemo from Finding Nemo (but not quite as headstrong or disobedient).

JAMPA (Old, but not ancient)

Jampa has trained his entire life to be the mentor to the new Chosen One. He’s had it drilled into him through years of monastic teachings the importance of both the Chosen One and the the power that that Chosen One is in control of. Because of the environment that he grew up in, order is very important to him. It’s all he’s known. He was disciplined if something was out of line or late, and that’s rubbed off onto him. He views order and peace and cleanliness as a sacred thing, and only through that orderliness is respect shown to the power he’s in charge of teaching. After the last Chosen One had passed away, Jampa was put in charge of the Dial while the search for the new Chosen One was in process. This has just further cemented Jampa’s need for order: 6+ years of doing something a single way leads to pretty unbreakable habits.

When Ten arrives, Jampa is caught off guard. Even after training for this exact situation for decades, he never fully realized that he’d be teaching a 6-year-old child. He’d planned on someone with power and gravitas, and thus the whims and problems of an ordinary kid are a difficult thing for Jampa to deal with. At first, the fear and accidental disrespect that Ten shows are annoying problems. Slowly, however, Jampa both begins to realize what Ten is going through, as well as remember what it was like for him as a child in a monastery, far away from his home.

Jampa holds himself the same way he keeps his living arrangements: clean, orderly, and a little bit tight (particularly in the upper body). He often mimics the way that Ten wrings his robes by clencing/wringing his hands. Although he may come across as strict and intimidating at first, underneath it all he’s warm and loving - sometimes it just takes a while for that to come through (think Fa Mulan, Mulan’s father - strict and all about obedience, but very much capable of deep amounts of love and understanding).

THE DIAL (Ancient)

The dial is as old as time itself - as far as anyone can tell. It has been there for generations, always under the protection of the Chosen One or his wise mentor. It is said that it is a gift from the Gods Themselves, a way of granting mortals a small taste of the Gods’ powers. In that sense, it is highly sacred - sacred in that it came from the heavens, and sacred in large part just because of the immense power it holds. Located on the tallest mountain in the area, the local people built a temple around it - both to honor it and protect it from the elements. It has been that way as long as anyone can remember.

The dial is essentially two parts - the machine, which represents the earth (and which the mortals are in charge of maintaining), and the piece that powers it, which represents the heavens and the Gods that rule them. The dial is a massive symbol of the duality of life and nature: men/Gods, day/night, and through this story, mentor/student.

The dial is not sacred in the sense that it is worshipped, but that it is a reminder for the people of the kindness of the Gods, and the power that they have. It stands as a message that with work and devotion and the power of the gods, miracles are possible.